Cpr Advocate Encourages Mastery Of Lifesaving Steps

When Bob Knapp`s wife fainted two weeks ago, he was ``just plain scared.``

``I called the fire department, but I didn`t know what else to do,`` he said. ``I decided I`m going to find out (what to do).``

His wife was fine -- some medication she received during a visit with the dentist earlier in the day had caused her fainting spell.

Although relieved that his wife was all right, the fact that he did not know what to do beyond call for help nagged him.

So Knapp signed up to take a course in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation taught by his neighbor, Bill Feldman.

Along with six of his neighbors in Boca Del Mar, Knapp spent Monday afternoon learning how to respond if someone collapses and his heart stops.

``It`s criminal not to know (CPR),`` said Feldman, certified CPR instructor and self-proclaimed crusader to teach everyone he can the lifesaving technique. ``People think, `I don`t have to know it. Someone else will take care of it.` They would rather not be the person singled out to handle the situation.``

The American Heart Association trains approximately 15,000 people each year in CPR in Palm Beach and Martin Counties, according to the heart association spokesperson, Judy Gallagher. There are approximately 300 volunteers in the two counties who are certified to teach CPR, Gallagher said.

Feldman`s students took turns administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to Annie, an American Heart Association mannequin.

They learned how to compress the chest to keep blood flowing to the brain. They learned about the warning signs of heart attack, and they learned about anatomy and how to avoid damage to the liver and lungs when performing CPR.

Feldman envisions every development in Boca Del Mar with a group of people who have been certified to perform CPR.

He had tried to organize classes by sending notices to the head of each condo association in Boca Del Mar but got little response. Now, he tells the president of each homeowners association when he is going to give the class and to have at least seven people there.

``I had been thinking of taking a course like this for a long time,`` said Dorothy Nudelman. ``When you live in a kind of community with a great deal of older people, it`s good to know this.``

``It might save someone`s life,`` said Jack Barry. ``There are so many people who have heart attacks.``

Rita Gianunzio said, ``It`s good to know, but I`m hoping I never have to use it.``

But Feldman said that in the average person`s life span they probably will be faced with a situation where they will have to use a lifesaving technique like CPR.

Feldman tries to give his students the necessary knowledge of anatomy and the confidence in their skills to be able to say to a heart attack victim`s family ``I`m in charge`` and mean it.

``I don`t believe in (training films),`` Feldman said. ``I don`t do anything that helps the students to be spectators. In my classes, they are participants from go. It helps them drop their inhibitions. They learn how to touch people and how to be touched. It`s a one-time training session, and I want them all to wind up experts.``